30-leadership (DON'T END)

It's sad to see the end of our leadership class. We've bonded together so nicely, but more importantly, everyone has helped me so much and I am really grateful for them. Im a little bit scared for second semester without them, but i know i can do it!
overall, a grade 12 leadership class was a really great idea and I only see positives that came from it.

If there were only to be one leadership class, it should be in first semester because thats when parliament is very busy and has the most events to plan. although, i think there should be 2 classes in a year because I loved seeing so many people getting involved. If there isn't two classes in a year then that means we have to use the grade 11's a lot more, which is fine.
Interviewing students to be in the class is probably the best choice and fairest choice and I don't think being in the grade 11 leadership should have anything to do with being in the grade 12 class because i wasn't in grade 11 and look at me now...
I like the way it is by being an open course because I wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much as I did since there would be more work involved in it. It would also end up feeling like I was getting marked on being Prime Minister since I had to be in the class.

29-charissa blog post

WHY DON'T MORE KIDS THINK LIKE THIS
"Stay hungry, stay foolish" is the greatest quote that students should live by and take in everything they can. Like me, I took math, hated it, but overall happy that i took it because i found it interesting and that is also how my sister is living her life at university. (taking psychology first because its interesting, second because she wants to be a psychologist).
At this time in my life, I'm scared of what I am going to be doing next year because I have no clue what i am doing next year and I am okay with it. However I see so many kids scared that they won't get into school and are completely stressed. To me, thats not what your last year of high school should be like. They should be enjoying it.
Charrisa has a great outlook and realizes that saying money creates happiness is not absurd. We don't like in a developing country where we have to grow our own food and walk everywhere therefore we need money and cars and houses to live. that is our life and would be difficult to change that. I think students need to keep that equal balance of what happiness is. Yes, you have money and have the greatest job, but also being happy with yourself and to never take anything too seriously.
This article makes me feel better about myself that it is okay for me to not have a plan for next year and that  I will go to school when I am ready to go.

28- Ken Robinson

Ken Robinson is an incredible thinker and is exactly what education needs. A new outlook and a person that sees the change that needs to occur. Why this man isn't the head of all education systems is beyond me, but it is probably because many teachers do not like him. The way he related ADD to students and teachers just think students need to sit there all day is true, but also a fact that not all students learn the same way and that needs to be changed. Not all students want to sit there and write all day; some want to dance like that one specific example and one just wants to play hockey which is fine and needs to be accepted. Teachers are continually preparing students for a world that isn't real. they are teaching us that we have to work all he time and that our own personal pleasures and enjoyments are not accepted in the school system.

More teachers need to take Ken Robinson's words much more seriously and that the majority of students agree with him in one way or another. We can't critique the school system for the minor flaws it has whether it is within athletics or the lack of enrolment until the education system as a whole is looked at and understood that we are treated like factory workers.teachers must realize that there are more interests in the outside world and that is what is going to make a successful student

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#27-Tebowmania

            Sometimes I will “Tebow” in places because Tebow’s spirit has taken over me. His leadership role in his team is remarkable and proves that you can do anything if you put your mind to it. He is apparently a terrible football player and does not have the greatest team, yet he encouraged his team and they won. To me that is a big deal. 

            If people keep Tebowing on mountains and canyons that just means that they support his leadership abilities and positive outlook on life which more people need. I had heard that he is wanted for something in the American politics and I think that could be the worst and greatest idea. His positivity and status would make politics more interesting and exciting (not that it isn’t exciting right now because of all the crazy/extreme politicians). All you need in politics is an exciting, dashing young person to get people to listen (Jack Layton won my heart because of his laid back style)

            I can see how people think some divine power is within Tebow, I don’t, but for people that think that is not out of the ordinary. All he does is pray and many people in American believe in God so it only makes sense.

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#26- idea for Idols

I thought that parliament should have done some type of act, like a dance, or a video like we did last year for the survivor video. I really did want to do that, but I knew how difficult it would be already planning the lipdub video and me planning a lot. For the setup, I did want it to be more like coffee house because I think that would have helped with light and sound because of how laid back it was, but that didn’t happen unfortunately. 

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#25- idea for festive fun

One idea that I had for 10 days of festive fun was pajama day, and handing out the hot chocolate, but quite honestly I didn’t do very much for those two weeks because I was occupied with Idols. I helped with the sundaes being handed out on the Friday of pajama day.

#23- Joe Paterno Scandal

At the time this story came out, our soc class was talking about  child abuse the responsibility everyone has to report it if one ever sees or hears about it. From the class i learned that everyone must report it to child services and it is something that needs to addressed again by the government to fix the issues of child abuse. I also learned that teachers and coaches have an even higher responsibility because of the position they are in. however; not everyone knows that they have the responsibility to report any given issues and many teachers/coaches do not like having that much authority because it can be intimidating to become involved in any form of child abuse. also, it is just recently that child services have promoted to a greater deal that people need to start speaking up.

I don't want to say that it is okay that Joe Paterno didn't stop Sandusky or report him, but i have realized that the scandal happened several years back and child abuse was not out in the public like it is now. I am have extremely mixed feelings on the issue because Paterno did tell administration, or whoever, making him feel better about himself, however when there was no investigation done thats where there I don't have any sympathy for him.

I guess in the end, (I am writing this after he passed away...) he should be remembered for his legacy and all the good things he did for his community, his team, family and friends but also act as a reminder as to how important it is for individuals to speak up and report any type of child abuse and know that it could save a childs life just by telling the right person.

#21- Harassment Articles

Kids are harassed every single day and at times may not even realize it which is something that needs to end. it seems so simple to disallow students to harass each other oner the internet and even all the advertisements one sees in a day because we all know that the media just brings people down making them feel worse about themselves.
why people people don't know where to go, or have someone to go to if they have ever had been assaulted is beyond me. Kids feeling like they can speak is one issue, however it goes to another level when teachers are adults know what has happened and do not do anything about it. adults ignoring children do not know the psychological impacts that leave on them and how that leaves their future. they lose all of their confidence and hold grudges on people because they never received help.
Harassment is so prevalent and is not dealt with effectively. Sorry, but the government is doing a terrible job on issues such as this one and it may not be the governments responsibility, however everyone listens to the government and follows everything they do.
There isn't a final answer as to how to end bullying and harassment, but the answer lies within all the ideas that students have because if they are the ones dealing with all the problems then they have  the most logical answer as to how to end the cycle of harassment.

20- challenge week idea

My idea for Challenge week was the word wall. I still want to do it and I dont know why it still hasnt been done/ become a permanent piece of art in the school, but it still needs to be done because there is nothing better than a wall filled with love and encouragment!

18-can school stop suicide

I have a lot of faith in teachers and how much they are able to help students and also change their future. I believe its the teachers job to keep kids engaged in class and want to learn, but also to teach life lessons and not what is only on the curriculum because thats what kids want to learn about.
Can teachers prevent suicide? Yes they can. For many students, school is a different life from their home life so I feel as though teachers should be able to detect sign of depression or at least act as an open door for students and feel that they can come to them when they need help. Teachers should almost act as friend to students so that they can be comfortable with each other and then students will be able to go to them if they need help. I know there are teachers in our school who I could go to at anytime if I needed help and I wish other students were able to experience that.

17- Steve Jobs Commencement Speech

I had never seen who Steve Jobs was or what he did besides making the greatest computer alive before he died. So his speech that he did for Stanford was inspirational and motivational specifically when he said that he never finished college. of course I know how important education is and that I really do not have a future without it unless I want to work at Foodland for the rest of my life, but I think it shows that all of the people around the world that created products that we use every single day probably only went to high school and started their life after that. He explained that anyone can be successful and do the craziest things, like becoming a millionaire, with perseverance and determination and to not let anyone bring you down.

#15- leaders and leadership

I can only imagine how hard it would be to be a political leader because there is two sides that one needs to reach out to. one is the older generation which is our parents and are not necessarily involved in social change and more engaged in taxes and RSP's (stereotyping to the extreme) but then there are the students who are so heavily engaged in social change because it is so prevalent in our lives. quite frankly, a party is going to get more votes if they reach out to the older generation because there are more of them then there are of the students.
The issues in students lives don't grab attention and would lose votes from the older generation. by creating a platform for the older generation, parties lose votes from angry students that end up rioting and occupying parks. seriously.
Even though it doesn't seem like parties are keeping young voters engaged, they are because all the protests that have occurred in the the last 3 or 4 years prove to show that young ones are motivated to act on what they believe needs to be changed and this is ultimately the only way that the government will listen to students.

#13- Challenge DAY

From the beginning, I thought that the names should be drawn at random and that it should include all grades for the first year because it would have a bigger impact on the school. Grade 10s don't always get involved in school and thats why it wouldn't have made as big of an impact compared to using all grades.

#12- Nelly's side of the story

I still stand by my initial feelings toward Nelly Furtado. I can understand that her life was changed drastically after her trip to Kenya, but it still seems as if she wants the money taken off of her chest to feel better about herself.

#11- nelly furtado. comments under article

"Four years to grow a concience-not bad"
I really like this comment because i think it just shows how people will do certain things just for the money and how it affects the person. in Nelly Furtado's case, she had to have known that the family she was going to perform for was not the nicest and she accepted the money anyways. as gadhafi was in the news more and more Nelly showed that she was comfortable having the money from him and decided to do something good with it. it took her four years and negative pictures of him in the news for her to realize that she did something wrong.

#10- Nelly Furtado

initially hearing that Nelly Furtado donated 1 million dollars to free the children seems like a great thing, however i was quickly disappointed to find out where she received that money from which was from a personal concert for Momad Gadhafi. first of all, i don't even agree with the amount of money a singer gets paid just for singing because it is unfair to the underground singers that are more talented then ones who use auto-tune to sound cool...

I feel as though Nelly knew doing a private concert was not going to be the most humanitarian act she could do and wanted to get the bad did she did off her back by donating the money to free the children. I know that it is her job to sing and get paid for it and its her decision to perform for anyone, however i cannot get over i cannot get over how she thinks she is being such a great person just because she is giving 1 Million dollars to free the children, which was gadhafis money. Since this incident, i have really thought differently about the number of celebrities that try to give back to third world countries but you don't get the  underlying stories of how celebrities get their money and how they use it.

#9- Posters

The poster that I did was the one that said "IDCI is....." and I think its nice and simple and easy to read. but in all seriousness, I like all the posters that were done. They were all done really well and i think they were a nice touch to the school. I have no idea what i was doing the day when everyone was doing their posters because it was a looooonnnngggg time ago, however I can say how well done they all were (the accepting one is my favourite and sticks out in my mind).

#8- jack layton letter

To me, Jack Layton was the most influential in politics because he made political issues that were difficult to fully understand, easier and more realistic. Jack layton is the reason why I agree with the NDP platform and helped me to understand political issues.
His letter to Canada was incredibly honest and touching because it was his chance to say exactly what he wanted and what he believed in, which is not something a political leader gets the chance to do. He explained how important the NDP was to him and how optimistic he was in the future of Canada. That shows how passionate he was in his career and what he has done as a political leader.
Something else in the letter that stood out to me was his view towards his death. I find it important for people to look at death with a positive outlook whether it is being grateful for the people and things they have done in their life, but also to be optimistic for whats to come without being there. He accepted that he was going to die, however he took his death as an opportunity to be truly grateful and appreciative for his life.
Political leaders like himself are not common in the world today and it is refreshing in a way to acknowledge his accomplishments. may he rest in peace and be remembered but also be a way to remember that change can happen

#6- comments on the Banting mudslide

I can understand why some people would not be in support of an activity like this because it forces grade nine students to participate even if they don't want to. I can see most and many adults who have never took part in an activity like the mud slide to be a form of hazing mainly because they don't fully understand the benefits of the activity. Some people haven't heard what students of Banting said about the slide and I think their opinions should have been heard more rather than the writer of the article.
I still stand by my first thought about the activity which is in support of it and still believe this should in someway become and IDCI tradition.